Entertainment

Samsung Gear VR launches before December for $99

We already knew Samsung's final Gear VR was coming in 2015. Now we have a price and a better sense of the release timing.

The mobile-based virtual reality headset will launch in North America "in time for Black Friday" and worldwide "shortly after," as Samsung SVP of Technology Strategy Peter Koo revealed when he took the stage at the Oculus Connect keynote on Thursday. It'll sell for $99.

The final build of the Gear VR is 22% lighter than the "Innovator Edition" that first launched in Dec. 2014. It's also got a revised design that does away with the top head strap and a smarter design for the side-mounted touchpad, with an directional pad-shaped indentation that should make blindly operating the controls more convenient.

The final Gear VR also expands the range of supported devices. It works with Samsung's entire 2015 smartphone line, including the Note 5, Edge Plus, S6 and S6 Edge.

Oculus also announced that the Oculus Arcade would be coming to the Gear VR at launch; the company has partnered with mainstream publishers like Sega, Warner Bros. and Namco. There are also plenty of original games, including Land’s End by Monument Valley developers ustwo and Gunjack by CCP Games.

Oculus boss Brendan Iribe also discussed the amount of video-viewable VR. Traditional movies will be viewable on the Gear VR, including from studio partners like 20th Century Fox and Lionsgate. But it'll also include streaming services like Netflix, which will become available later on Thursday. Twitch live-streaming will also come to the Gear VR through Oculus Video.

There will be lots of 360 video available through Oculus Video, Iribe said, adding that its users will be able to do everything from swim with sharks to watch Lebron James prepare for his upcoming season.

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